Saturday, January 21, 2012

[ZESTCaste] AIDWA Flays Attack on Dalit Woman

IN a statement issued on January 13, the All India Democratic Women'sAssociation said that it is deeply shocked at the stripping andbeating of a dalit widow in Satara village by upper caste residents ofthe same village, because her son reportedly eloped with an uppercaste girl from that village. It condemned this outrageous violationof human rights, and demanded exemplary punishment for theperpetrators.

AIDWA national secretary and president of the Maharashtra JanwadiMahila Samity, Kiran Moghe, along with other AIDWA leaders from thestate have visited the victim in hospital, and have demanded stringentaction from the police authorities. The press release issued by thestate leadership is below:

The Maharashtra unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Janwadi Mahila Sanghatanastrongly condemns the severe assault on a dalit widow resident ofMulgaon village in Patan block of Satara district. This is one moreincident in which a poor woman has become the target of feelings ofrevenge and resentment by upper castes. It is to be noted that thevictim is the grand daughter of the revolutionary poet ComradeAnnabhau Sathe, whose songs mobilised the people of the state in theSamyukta Maharashtra movement.

The woman has been a resident of the village for the past thirtyyears. Ever since her son married the daughter of her upper casteneighbour a month ago, she has been targeted with verbal casteistabuse. On January 9, 2012, members of the Desai family brutallyassaulted her. When she managed to reach the Patan police station, theconstable on duty refused to entertain her complaint. We stronglydemand that the policemen on duty who failed to understand the gravityof the situation and turned her away should be suspended forthwith,and strong action be taken against them. Moreover, there have beenearlier incidents of attacks on other members of her family, one ofwhich has been registered with the Patan police station. We alsodemand that the village level Tanta Mukti Samiti at Mulgaon should bedissolved forthwith since it did not intervene to pre-empt thisserious incident of assault.

A delegation of the Akhil Bharatiya Janwadi Mahila Sanghatana (AIDWA)consisting of state president Kiran Moghe, Satara district presidentAnandi Avghade, alongwith Satara district CPI(M) secretary ManikAvghade, Saleem Attar, J S Patil and others met the victim at Karadlate in the evening on January 11, 2012 and spoke to her at length.It is shocking that the district SP and collector have not evenbothered to visit her and make enquiries about her situation. Itappears that the state government has learnt nothing from theKhairlanjee incident and the state administration and policedepartment remains as insensitive and discriminatory when it comes toatrocities against dalits. The latest crime statistics for the stateof Maharashtra reveals that the number of crimes recorded under thePrevention of Atrocities against SC/ST Act increased by 9.62 per centin 2010 as compared to 2009. Of these the maximum number have been inthe districts of western Maharashtra. It appears that the law is nolonger deterrent for crimes against dalits and women because rarelyanyone is punished.

The delegation also went to meet the deputy SP Patan, F A Nayakawadiat the Patan police station late last night and enquired about theprogress in the investigation. He immediately agreed to their demandto give police protection to the victim while she is in the hospital.They also demanded that the police independently verify the age of theyoung girl and not rely on the parents' version. They also asked forpolice protection to the couple. A memorandum of demands has beensubmitted to the SP and collector.